Be creative with journaling on pages

Courtesy of Heidi Anne Giebel THE JOURNALING on this page tells only the facts of the photos. For more ideas on journaling, visit www.scrapyourstories.com.

Recently, I was asked, "What is journaling?" The friend who asked was not a new scrapper, but worried that her journaling was not correct. I wanted to put her mind at ease. Journaling is any text or words you put on a scrapbook page to help tell the story. There are different types of journaling, but no one correct way. ÖFacts-only journaling includes five W's of writing -- who, what, where, when and why. This is the simplest form of journaling on a scrapbook layout. ÖPersonal narrative is another way of journaling. This type lets the scrapbooker tell the details of the page in a story form. The personal narrative journaling typically comes from the scrapbooker taking part in the event that the photos illustrate. ÖThird-party journaling is when a scrapbooker recounts the events from the photos as told by the actual participants. This form of journaling is popular for older, heritage photos and military photos. For example, when I went to scrap my brother's photos from his tour in Afghanistan, I journaled what he told me verbally about the photos he took. ÖDiary-style journaling is a fun way to narrate the day, week or year depicted on the scrapbook page or album. You describe the events as they happen, then place them on your page along with the photos. ÖSometimes, you might want to pair a particular photo with a poem. This is another type of journaling. Whether it's a humorous, poignant, melancholy or beautiful, a poem might suit the mood of the photos.

Send questions to graphic artist Heidi Anne Giebel, of Liverpool, at features@syracuse.com or to Scrapbooking, Stars, P.O. Box 4915, Syracuse, NY 13221. Her column appears in Stars every other week.